Everyday LifeGreek → English
Elephant
The largest living land animal.
The Greek roots
ἐλέφας
eléphas
elephant; ivory
Literally: “the ivory beast”
Follow a root:ἐλέφας2 words
The story of the word
The Greek eléphas meant both the animal and its ivory — the tusks and the beast sharing a single word.
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
In a sentence
An elephant can recognise itself in a mirror.